Erik Spoelstra
Role at the time: Miami Heat head coach, speaking to The Athletic after a team practice
Explicitly stayed out
Response to this claim
Giannis Antetokounmpo was difficult to coach and does not necessarily have a high basketball IQ, relying on one way of playing: attacking downhill and forcing the action.
“This is our business now.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Eurohoops: Erik Spoelstra on Doc Rivers's comments about coaching Giannis Antetokounmpo
Why we used this label
The reference point is Doc Rivers's remarks on The Bill Simmons Podcast that Antetokounmpo was not easy to coach and does not necessarily have the super IQ. Asked about those comments, Spoelstra says he likes and respects Rivers and that this is the Heat's business now. He neither agrees nor disagrees with the assessment and closes the subject, so the answer is a refusal to engage rather than a defense or a criticism.